Organizers are excited about the new year and the new playground that will soon be built at Powder Creek Park in Bonham. With the build week less than 3 months away, there is much work to be done.

A planning meeting will be held Monday, January 6 at 5:30 p.m. at the Fannin County Children’s Center at 112 W. 5th in Bonham. Anyone interested in getting involved or just learning more about the planning efforts is welcome to attend.

Thanks to several recent donations, the all-volunteer group’s fundraising efforts has surpassed the $100,000 milestone. Several more fundraising events and efforts are being planned for January and February in order to reach the goal of raising $121,000. Once completed, the one-of-a-kind playground will be valued at two or three times that much because some materials and equipment have been donated, plus the labor will all be provided by community volunteers.

Organizational Day will be coming up in January, with the date to be determined soon. By that time, the group will need to have at least 10 site captains lined up. These volunteers will provide leadership and direction to volunteers during the build week.

The build dates are set for March 12-16, 2014, which is the latter part of Spring Break. Playground organizers hope that families will plan any out of town trips for the early part of spring break and then plan on building the playground during the latter part of the break. The building will begin on Wednesday and work will be completed by Sunday evening. In addition to builders, volunteers will be needed to provide child care, prepare meals and check-in volunteers who are building.